THROUGHOUT his club's deeply disappointing end to the season, Charlton manager Alan Curbishley has maintained a splendid smile and an air of desperate optimism.

On Saturday at Elland Road the smile was frayed at the edges and the optimism seemed more desperate than ever.

His dream of a Champions League place dissolved long ago. Now he clings to the hope that the team can conclude with a top nine finish, their highest in the Premier League.

The problem is that Charlton have won just twice in their last 10 League games and were heading for an unacceptable defeat against relegated Leeds until Jason Euell's late two-goal salvo spared their blushes.

A goal to the good inside 10 minutes thanks to Matt Holland's spectacular 30-yard strike, a welcome win beckoned for Charlton against a Leeds side that had lost their previous three matches.

Whatever occurred after that only the Charlton players know as breathless chaos and the defiance of the Leeds supporters on this, their farewell to the Premiership, told.

As beachballs, balloons bounced and chants echoed around the once grand but now faintly shabby ground, the players of Leeds United got their acts together and stormed into a 3-1 lead. The casual observer might have considered it a minor classic. Curbishley did not.

He said: "The first half was the worst I've seen us play. I'm not bothered if people think it was a fair result, it wasn't good enough for us.

"For a while we've been talking about finishing in our best ever position in the Premiership, though you wouldn't have thought that in the first half.

"We got back into the game in the second half and maybe we should be applauded for that after being 3-1 down. But it wasn't good enough."

After Holland's early strike, Luke Young shot across the goalface and Paolo Di Canio tested the Leeds goalkeeper Paul Robinson before it all went horribly wrong for Charlton.

Leeds equalised in the 29th minute when 20-year-old Matthew Kilgannon slid home Stephen McPhail's free kick for his first League goal.

Goalkeeper Dean Kiely, Charlton's newly-crowned Player of the Year, produced an excellent double save to deny James Milner before Jermaine Pennant gave Leeds the lead in the 41st minute after a one-two with Alan Smith.

Curbishley made a triple substitution on the hour with Radostine Kishishev, Chris Perry and Shaun Bartlett replacing Graham Stuart, Chris Powell and Di Canio. Hermann Hreidarsson was pushed forward into a midfield role and his height caused Leeds problems.

However, in the 68th minute, Jonathan Fortune was dubiously judged to have fouled Michael Duberry and up stepped Smith to beat Kiely on his farewell to the home fans.

Charlton came to their senses in a late rally that saw Euell make it 3-2 from the penalty spot after being tripped by Duberry in the 75th minute.

Four minutes later, he took advantage of a comedy of errors in the Leeds defence to accelerate between Kilgallon and substitute Jason Wilcox to pick his spot for the equaliser.